Bouncers and Bodyguards

Book excerpt: Bouncers and Bodyguards is a collection of astonishing true stories about the tough world of personal protection and nightclub doors from some of Britain's most notorious figures. Read how Charlie Bronson helped his friends out on the doors of his local in the early '70s before being banged up for well over 30 years; how Dave Courtney misses the violent world of the doors; how ex-football hooligan Mickey Francis ran most of Manchester's doors back in the '80s; and how an ex-Foreign Legion bodyguard spent over a week cooped up in a bleak warehouse guarding Iraqi votes in central Baghdad. By turns funny, sad and shocking, these candid accounts were written exclusively for this publication by individuals who have spent much of their working lives in what is a volatile, violent and frequently unpredictable industry. Compiled by former bodyguard, ex-mercenary and well-known nightclub bouncer Robin Barratt, Bouncers and Bodyguards is an exposé of an infamous twilight world about which rumours have often circulated but the truth has never really been uncovered - until now.